An impending lockout is approaching faster than many realize, and the consequences could jeopardize the entire 2027 season. For those unfamiliar, Major League Baseball consists of two main components: the players’ association and the owners. Together, these entities form the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Every five years, the players’ association, which serves as a union representing players’ rights, and the owners negotiate to establish the rules and structure for the next five years until the CBA expires and a new one needs to be created. Since MLB operates as a union, both parties must reach an agreement on their shared principles to ensure the best interests of both the owners and the players are protected, allowing for active play next season.

Without a written and legal agreement, all MLB play and free agent discussions will be swiftly halted. The inability to watch their favorite team could result in a significant disaster for the league, particularly for the die-hard fans who are concerned each day about an impending lockout.

The league simply is not fair anymore to the small market teams and has become a battlefield of success ruled by the big market teams who collect any and all superstar talent to their rosters as soon as they become available. One team that has raised eyebrows for over a decade is the LA Dodgers, MLB’s powerhouse team, every player’s dream to play for and every player’s nightmare to play against. Their team is essentially its own all-star team with practically zero homegrown talent on their roster. It combines the talents of Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Blake Snell, Edwin Diaz, and most recently, Tarik Skubal. It is the league’s golden child, or really the league’s antichrist, who portrays the villain better than they do the hero, kind of like Thanos collecting all the Infinity Stones for his gauntlet; everyone tries to stop them but needs an army to even come close.

The Tarik Skubal trade has the whole league in turmoil and for good reason. How can any team put up a good fight against the Dodgers in the playoffs if their whole team is healthy and at their best performance? The Dodgers are the sole reason people just do not find enjoyment in the sport anymore. Every big-name player ends up on the Dodgers either on a maximum contract or a short-term deal with high annual value. Everything the Dodgers do is the best: they can draft well, they are great at scouting international talent, they are loaded with endless money, they can win, and they can win when it matters most – in the playoffs. They also have something many teams simply cannot achieve, and that is leverage. If team B offered the same contract that the Dodgers offer, 9/10 times the player will choose the Dodgers over team B because who doesn’t want to join the popular group instead of fighting for a spot at the lunch table?

It has made the game today into a massive bidding war of the class of riches where a team essentially has to put down a blank check in the hope of even the chance of signing the big-name free agent to their team and away from the Dodgers. The Dodgers are also the team that doesn’t need to give out huge contracts, except in recent history for their two Japanese stars: Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who both received 10+ year contracts to play for the Dodgers. Other teams have to constantly raise their offer, hoping the Dodgers won’t refuse and increase their offer.

It’s a man vs. man world, and without an endless budget, competing through the full 162-game season and across October becomes much harder. This logic makes it challenging for smaller teams that aren’t big names to compete against the giants, but they should still be allowed access to the front-line names available during free agency. However, these players are often money-hungry and greedy, prioritizing their financial gain over creating a winning culture in their clubhouse. If the Dodgers can succeed, so can every other team, right? Not true. Not every team has the fortune similar to the Dodgers and can build their team solely from their checkbook. With every player demanding more money than the last, the focus shifts away from winning games to figuring out how to remain competitive after giving a front-line free agent a deal that won’t plunge the team into a financial crisis while still making them dangerous.

The lockout was bound to happen from the start of the season, but after the Dodgers won two consecutive World Series in 2024-2025, it makes the matter much more demanding and relevant than ever. A lockout won’t suddenly make the Dodgers less competitive; they have had a winning season every year since 2011, and they aren’t slowing down. The lockout is only going to help prevent future clashes with billionaire owners going over the luxury tax and signing players to heinous deals. It won’t stop the Dodgers from being one of the most successful teams of the decade, especially given that their past signings for ludicrous money won’t go away; it will just add more financial barriers to prevent further dilemmas. Therefore, now more than ever, it is important to build a winning team and to put an end to the Dodgers.

The lockout should not scare teams but incentivize them even more that they can still win and beat the Dodgers. The Dodgers should not be the only team to splurge on the free agent market, nor should they be the only team to never lose confidence in making the playoffs. Be like the Dodgers and you won’t have to worry about the Dodgers.